Cheesedawg
Footballguy
NE drafted Dobson to be the #1 outside receiver. It took awhile, but he is moving into that role now. He has talent, a great work ethic, and is in a pretty good place traditionally to be a WR. He looks like a WW pickup in redraft in '13 and has to be climbing fast on the dynasty charts.
http://bostonherald.com/sports/patriots_nfl/new_england_patriots/2013/10/aaron_dobson_s_catching_on
FOXBORO — Aaron Dobson’s teammates saw it early.
“When he first came in,” cornerback Alfonzo Dennard said, “we were going at it (in practice), and he made a one-hand catch on me. I was like, ‘This guy, he’s for real.’ I knew then he would be a special person for this team.”
Now, over the last three weeks, Dobson has done a better job of bringing the practice work to the game field, and he has fit the label of a second-round draft pick who was added to fill a substantial void at wide receiver.
In the past three games, Dobson leads the Patriots with 13 receptions for 157 yards and one touchdown. The numbers aren’t staggering, but it marks a significant improvement for a player who received an inconsistent amount of reps throughout training camp and his opening month of the regular season, which was delayed a week due to a hamstring injury.
Dobson’s 171 of 227 snaps (75.3 percent) over the last three weeks also lead all Patriots offensive skill position players, and that resembles a growing trust with quarterback Tom Brady.
“Definitely, just getting work at it and just practicing,” Dobson said. “Me and Tom are getting on the same page, and I feel like all of that is helping to transition to the field on Sunday.”
It showed up Sunday against the Dolphins when Dobson led the team with four catches for 60 yards and a scoring grab. He ran a perfect stop-and-go route for a 14-yard touchdown, and Dobson said the result felt even better because that play was discussed after a midweek film session that uncovered a tendency the Patriots believed they could exploit.
And, of course, it was installed for Dobson.
“It worked exactly how we thought it would work,” Dobson beamed.
His other three catches were also impressive for various reasons. The Marshall product ran a precise 20-yard hitch up the left sideline and sold the go-route to the point where cornerback Dimitri Patterson ran seven yards past him, resulting in Dobson’s easy catch and 26-yard gain.
That was the type of route Brandon Lloyd excelled at running last season, and Dobson has become more mechanical with his footwork to show strides in that area of his game.
Part of it comes from film study, and Dobson says he’s been watching tape of Lloyd, Deion Branch and Wes Welker to study his technique on inside routes.
Those film sessions happen throughout the week, whether it’s individual work (when Dobson sometimes likes to study Larry Fitzgerald), the Tuesday sessions with Brady or the tutorials in the meeting room with the other receivers and coach Chad O’Shea.
“We do watch our old receivers just to learn to see how they ran the routes,” Dobson said. “It might be a new play, a new concept that we’ve got so we’ll go back and see how they ran them a lot.”
Dobson also ran a simple slant for a 5-yard gain, but the play occurred when Patterson gave him eight yards of cushion on second-and-10, so it was a good example of taking what was given by the defense. Dobson’s final grab, a 15-yarder, highlighted his athleticism as he fought off Patterson’s press, cut inside well before the safety and made a difficult grab with the cornerback on his hip.
Those are the types of catches Dobson made throughout the summer, and they not only grabbed his teammates’ attention but also got the fans on their feet during open practices. Even a private contingent of Eagles supporters awed over Dobson’s leaping downfield grab against a pair of defensive backs during joint practices.
Dobson hasn’t flashed like that yet in a game, but the opportunities are increasing. Before this three-game stretch, Dobson never got more than the third-most snaps among the receivers in any game. In his first four games, he played 55.6 percent of the Patriots’ offensive snaps, so there has been a considerable uptick in playing time.
That short-term progression has been noticed by his teammates on both sides of the ball, and Dobson is working to keep that trajectory intact.
“I just feel like overall, I’m more comfortable in the system,” he said. “I’ve still got a long way to go to get to where I want to be at — to be great.”
http://bostonherald.com/sports/patriots_nfl/new_england_patriots/2013/10/aaron_dobson_s_catching_on
FOXBORO — Aaron Dobson’s teammates saw it early.
“When he first came in,” cornerback Alfonzo Dennard said, “we were going at it (in practice), and he made a one-hand catch on me. I was like, ‘This guy, he’s for real.’ I knew then he would be a special person for this team.”
Now, over the last three weeks, Dobson has done a better job of bringing the practice work to the game field, and he has fit the label of a second-round draft pick who was added to fill a substantial void at wide receiver.
In the past three games, Dobson leads the Patriots with 13 receptions for 157 yards and one touchdown. The numbers aren’t staggering, but it marks a significant improvement for a player who received an inconsistent amount of reps throughout training camp and his opening month of the regular season, which was delayed a week due to a hamstring injury.
Dobson’s 171 of 227 snaps (75.3 percent) over the last three weeks also lead all Patriots offensive skill position players, and that resembles a growing trust with quarterback Tom Brady.
“Definitely, just getting work at it and just practicing,” Dobson said. “Me and Tom are getting on the same page, and I feel like all of that is helping to transition to the field on Sunday.”
It showed up Sunday against the Dolphins when Dobson led the team with four catches for 60 yards and a scoring grab. He ran a perfect stop-and-go route for a 14-yard touchdown, and Dobson said the result felt even better because that play was discussed after a midweek film session that uncovered a tendency the Patriots believed they could exploit.
And, of course, it was installed for Dobson.
“It worked exactly how we thought it would work,” Dobson beamed.
His other three catches were also impressive for various reasons. The Marshall product ran a precise 20-yard hitch up the left sideline and sold the go-route to the point where cornerback Dimitri Patterson ran seven yards past him, resulting in Dobson’s easy catch and 26-yard gain.
That was the type of route Brandon Lloyd excelled at running last season, and Dobson has become more mechanical with his footwork to show strides in that area of his game.
Part of it comes from film study, and Dobson says he’s been watching tape of Lloyd, Deion Branch and Wes Welker to study his technique on inside routes.
Those film sessions happen throughout the week, whether it’s individual work (when Dobson sometimes likes to study Larry Fitzgerald), the Tuesday sessions with Brady or the tutorials in the meeting room with the other receivers and coach Chad O’Shea.
“We do watch our old receivers just to learn to see how they ran the routes,” Dobson said. “It might be a new play, a new concept that we’ve got so we’ll go back and see how they ran them a lot.”
Dobson also ran a simple slant for a 5-yard gain, but the play occurred when Patterson gave him eight yards of cushion on second-and-10, so it was a good example of taking what was given by the defense. Dobson’s final grab, a 15-yarder, highlighted his athleticism as he fought off Patterson’s press, cut inside well before the safety and made a difficult grab with the cornerback on his hip.
Those are the types of catches Dobson made throughout the summer, and they not only grabbed his teammates’ attention but also got the fans on their feet during open practices. Even a private contingent of Eagles supporters awed over Dobson’s leaping downfield grab against a pair of defensive backs during joint practices.
Dobson hasn’t flashed like that yet in a game, but the opportunities are increasing. Before this three-game stretch, Dobson never got more than the third-most snaps among the receivers in any game. In his first four games, he played 55.6 percent of the Patriots’ offensive snaps, so there has been a considerable uptick in playing time.
That short-term progression has been noticed by his teammates on both sides of the ball, and Dobson is working to keep that trajectory intact.
“I just feel like overall, I’m more comfortable in the system,” he said. “I’ve still got a long way to go to get to where I want to be at — to be great.”
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